Tuesday, or day three, we visited the Vatican properly.The tour we took through the Colosseum and Palatine Hill also offered a package through the Vatican.This was also a good idea: we were given radio earpieces so the guide didn’t have to shout and managed to see all the main sights within 2.5 hours.Apparently if you were to stop for 1 minute before every sight in the Vatican, you’d be there for 15 days straight, so I was happy to have the condensed version.
To be honest, it was good that we received some tidbits of information about the Sistine Chapel, because without that, I may have been rather unimpressed.The paintings aren’t really all that spectacular in my opinion, at least not compared to similar al frescos in other churches, but the fact that Michelangelo painted the whole damn thing entirely himself did make me appreciate it all the more.
The tombs, or sarcophagi, under the Vatican were also cool: they hold the remains of all the former popes – quite the sacred place.
Funny anecdote: something you might not know about Riccardo is that he was raised Catholic. He's not practising, but still values the beliefs. I try to support this and abide by his dislike for saying the Lord's name in vain and such. One thing that I'm not so good at avoiding saying is, 'Holy crap!' - he doesn't like that much and gives me shit for it. Anyway, when we were visiting the Vatican, of course there were plentitudes of hawkers selling rosaries, crucifixes, mini-bibles, figurines of the Virgin Mary, etc. etc. etc. Riccardo had to admit, in this particular instance, I was fully correct in using the term: Holy Crap! ;D
We spent Tuesday evening sorting out the last-minute details for our day trip to Pompeii before finally heading to bed.
Note: again, I don't remember what everything we saw at the Vatican was called or know the significance of it all - but if you want more details, ask Riki.
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